I love you Sir
by rickmanfan1978
Summary: Hermione gets injured when a cupboard falls on her. Severus takes care of her
1. Chapter 1

This will be a 2 parter. Takes place after Voldemort's defeat & Hermione finishes her 7th year.

He was stacking & reorganizing potions supplies in his store, with Granger cramped in the claustrophobic space, handing him the next ingredient to replenish. A thunderous boom from the level above; Charms; Snape thought darkly and the dungeon walls shook, sprinkling him with cement bits and dust motes shaken free. A gasp from Granger and Snape looked up, annoyed at the 2nd interruption.

"What-" he didn't get to finish his query as Granger rushed toward him and butted him rudely out of the way.

Snape watched as the tall cupboard stores came crashing down on her, spilling precious and lethal liquid where he had just stood. The girl had foolishly pushed him aside and taken her place. Curse Griffindor pride! His eyes watered as some of the liquid vaporised when their containers broke. He levitated the heavy oak furniture off the floor, ready to give her a piece of his mind. He sifted through pieces of glass, and withdrew his hand quickly when a drop of golden liquid started burning his fingers. A quick scourgify fixed that. His searching more urgent now as he pushed the debris aside to get to Granger. The silence from the normally irritating Know-it-all was unbecoming.

He stopped. Her bushy hair covered her face obscuring the extent of her injuries. As gently as he could, he lifted her into his arms. Her stillness and the blood pooling in her middle and down her legs worried him. And for once in his long, suffering life, Severus Snape panicked.

Under Pomfrey's ministrations, Granger was stabilized. She suffered 2nd degree burns on her torso as well as a broken femur where the cupboard had struck her. She was put under with Dreamless Sleep to allow her body to heal. Snape stood virgil by her bedside, looking at her vulnerable form. Only the crease between his brows betrayed his emotion.

'Why did you do that?' he asked the slumbering know-it-all, knowing she couldn't answer. He took a step toward her bed and stopped.

Potter. Weasley. The rowdy pair was making their way into the infirmary.

A swish of his cloak. And Snape was gone.

Hermione opened her eyes slowly, winced as she felt her head throb. Instinct told her she was not in her dorm, but in a bigger room. The smell of Healing Potions convinced her she was in the Infirmary. It was dark. Her body clock told her it was after midnight. And it was raining outside, the occassional lightning streaking across the sky, illuminating the empty beds beside her. The flash also revealed a dark figure sleeping beside her bed, his head resting on the mattress, near her right hand.

Prof Snape.

She lifted her hand, hesitated for a moment and placed it on his shoulder. He was pleasantly warm under her touch.

"Sir?" she shook him awake gently.

He stirred with a slight jolt. A quick look around and he relaxed. Looking at her he spoke in a hushed whisper.

"you're awake."

She nodded without a word.

"How do you feel?"

She made a face. "My skin feels kinda raw and I can't move my right foot. Oh - " she gasped at the sudden pain when she tried to move.

"Easy there," Snape said, his large hand holding her legs down, "your bones are still reknitting."

She calmed under his ministration. Silence between them only to be broken by thunder rumbling in the sky. Everything was still and silent, she could almost believe they were the only 2 people left in the world.

"Why did you do it?" Snape asked, repeating the question he asked earlier when she was unconscious.

Hermione shrugged. "I saw the cupboard toppling over, I didnt want you hurt, it was instinct I guess. Although I might not have done the same if it had been Draco or Goyle."

His lips pursed into a thin line. When he next spoke, Hermione expected a sarcastic remark or a dismissal.

"Thank you, Granger." His thumb caressed her leg absently.

Her jaw wanted to drop in surprise, but she caught herself.

"You should get some rest, sir." she said, a soft smile playing on her lips. "You're getting dark circles under your eyes." Her hand reached out tentatively toward his face, afraid of his reaction. When he did not protest, she traced the beginnings of the eye bags under his left eye, trying to smooth them over.

At her touch, he let out the breath he did not realize he had been holding. Her carress seemed to calm him and he closed his eyes and concentrated on her tension left his face and the crease between his brows lightened. Her hand traced the sharp line of his jaw, her thumb caressing his cheek as he leaned towards her. She could feel the light rasp of his morning stubble on the pads of her fingers. Her heart gave a tight clench when he nuzzled her palm. She had always thought of Severus Snape as an idol; brilliant and powerful but cold and unfeeling. She forgot he was once a man who stayed true to his heart who protected Lily's son despite unrequited love. Thinking of Lily, she started to withdraw her hand but Snape caught her hand in his. His eyes flew open and she stared into the dark orbs. Gone was the unfeeling even cold gaze that he often bestowed upon her, replaced by liquid black irises of such intensity that she gasped aloud.

"Foolish girl." 


	2. Chapter 2

"Foolish girl.." snape hissed. His hand tightened convulsively over hers. He stood abruptly, letting go of her hand.

"Good night." and without waiting for a reply, he stalked off into the night.

-  
>Hermione cursed as the book jumped out of her hands, grew a pair of spindly legs and scuttled away. She ran after it as it dodged her by slipping between the shelves and leaping up to the highest shelf where it sat, sprouting a blue tongue and sticking it out at her.<p>

"Ooh just wait till I get my hands on you..." she muttered, climbing a ladder and reaching out for it. A sharp pain pricked on her side and she covered her ribs gingerly.

"Bollocks."

A totally prudish tut-tut came from below. She looked down in irritation. Of course, who else would it be.

"such filthy vocabulary coming from such a pretty mouth," snape sneered, looking up to her on the ladder, an eyebrow raised. Almost immediately he looked back down and took several steps back. His cheek flushed a faint pink.

It took hermione a few moments to figure out what had caused his silence. Ah...my skirt. He looked up my skirt. Had i known that was all it took to cut him off in mid sarcasm, I would've worn shorter skirts in class. Rolling her eyes on that thought, she descended, favoring her left rib.

"you're bleeding."

'Well, d'oh,' she thought to herself. A small amount of blood had seeped between her fingers.

"It's nothing," she said, shying away when he reached to pry her fingers away.

In a low voice that brooked no nonsense, he said, "Let me see, hermione."

Again, her jaw wanted to drop at his use of her first name. She searched his face, trying to read his expression. But his eyes were downcast, focused on her ribs. All she could see was that he had really black and straight lashes.

"Come with me." and she followed without comment as snape led her down the dungeons to his office behind the potions classroom. He sat her down on a squat sofa that was surprisingly comfortable, then kneeled in front of her. with an accio, a burn salve flew to his hand.

"It's really alright, sir, I can apply that on my own.." she tapered off when snape kept quiet and just stared at her.

Heaving a small sigh, hermione lifted her blouse, gritting her teeth when she peeled the sticky fabric off her raw wound.

Closing her eyes in trepidation when snape's hand dipped in salve rubbed gently on the wound on her rib.

"You should have let it fall on me," he said suddenly.

"Sorry, what?"

He cleared his throat. "The cupboard. You should have let it fall."

"as a rule, I generally do not let cupboards fall on people that I care about," she answered, a small twitch in her lips.

"I don't need your pity, granger."

Her hand stilled his wrist. He looked at her, a question in his eyes.

"It's not pity when I care about the bravest person I have ever known."

His warm hand moved higher, covering the burn that was just below her left breast. She hoped he could not feel her breathing quicken.

She continued. "And what if I were to tell you My caring has grown to something much more.."

He dropped his gaze.

"then I would say, ms granger that you are wasting your time on a burnt out old man who has forgotten how to care for anyone."

She took his hand, guided it to the burn that was on her breast, grimacing slightly. He didn't draw his hand back.

"Am I?"

He rubbed the salve in circles, oblivious to the fact that it was hardening her nipple.

Hermione edged forward.

"Sir."

He looked up. In that moment, his face was open, all masks discarded and hermione saw him for the boy who had come to hog warts with lily Evans. A boy who had love in his heart and hope for the future.

He shook his head, letting the hair cover his vulnerable face, knowing the emotions that he kept in check all these years were showing.

His voice cracked. "I'm broken."

"then let me pick up the pieces and care for you. Let me love you."

Everything in his heart urged him to love her, this foolish little girl Who obviously had a crush on him. So Severus snape pulled hermione granger into a hug, careful not to press into her injuries. He felt her small sigh, his old heart ached when she buried her head in the crook of his neck. She fit perfectly as if she was made for him. And him for her.

He kissed the top of her forehead gently.

"You are still young, hermione. Hell, you're graduating next month. Go out, see the world. Fall in love..." he stopped when he saw the tears he was putting in her eyes.

"Dear hermione," he kissed her tears away, wiping the rest with the sleeve of his coat, "and when you tire of your adventures and you're ready to settle down, if you still care for me then, I will be here. Waiting for you."

"you promise you will wait for me?"

"Always."

-  
>That was 10 years ago. Snape waited faithfully and watched her from afar, keeping track of her accomplishments over the years. Giving her a chance to live her life to the fullest. And in all that, he waited for her patiently, Despite that sinister voice in his head telling him she had forgotten about him, she was young, beautiful, she had many suitors with less complicated pasts.<p>

He took a sip of fire whiskey, watched the flame crackling in his fireplace. It was Xmas eve and he was used to spending it alone.

A knock on his door. He rose, thinking up a suitable insult for the expected group of carolers this time of the year.

Hermione stood at his steps, a small valise at her feet. She had grown a bit taller, her features had matured, and her bushy hair was tamed under a woollen cap to keep her ears warm in the snow.

He opened his arms and she came willingly, her arms encircling his neck while his covered her narrow waist. He closed his eyes over the tears threatening to spill. 'Getting sentimental with age, old man,' he thought to himself. Hermione pulled back and studied his face. He had aged well, some new fine lines around his mouth and forehead. The only distinguishing feature was his graying hair near his temple. Tenderly, she tucked a gray lock behind his ear.

"Look at me."

He opened his eyes, his obsidian meeting her warm brown ones. The love he had seen in them ten years ago now magnified many times over, barely contained and something new. Passion. For him.

"I'm finally home," hermione said, "if you will still have me..."

Before she could finish, snape captured her lips in a searing kiss, baring his soul to her. She fit and matched him perfectly, as she did that fateful day ten years ago.

Hermione felt his unspoken love, loneliness and patience in that first kiss. His yearning for her so strong, she felt her knees go weak. He was there to catch her and hold her up, as he always had when she was schooling.

They broke apart, he nipped on her lower lips with his teeth, another chaste kiss and a promise of many more to come. She could feel his strong heart beat against her breasts, synchronizing with her own. Elevated yes, but strong nevertheless.

"I love you, Severus snape."

"And I, you, hermione granger."

A hand under her knee, another supported her back and he lifted her off her feet. Her valise rose magically, trailing after. Outside, the snow continued to fall, Cocooning them in their own world.

*And here we will leave them to consummate their love, secure in the realization that they have finally found each other. A happy Xmas to all.  
>Sorry for the formatting problems. Written on an iPad while manning a retail store.<p>


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